Perhaps this should be part of the Reviews Thread, but here we are. While I haven't yet completed my first complete Scenario 3 game yet, it being still in progress, my first impressions of Fallen Eagles is very favorable. I played through Scenarios 1-3 and found them to be a charming way to begin to learning the nuances of the tactical end of the rules. Although I made quite a number of errors, I was able to use these scenarios to learn what and what does not work with the various forms of attack and defense. I very soon discovered how close range artillery fire dominates the game as it did (and still does) in reality. Another facet well modeled is melee combat. It provides some of the most surprising results of all during play. When one considers what it is attempting recreate: close range mass small arms fire, physical altercation, bayonet charges, the effect of moral ascendancy of numbers, the effects of high morale and good training, and of course, courage and luck, it is so fascinating how one DR can be made to represent all this so well.

Command and Control is another aspect of warfare dealt with in an innovative way by the Orders and Activation rules. I find it to add a great deal of suspense to the game to see just how one deals with the aspect of timing, luck, and lack of control one has as the Commander of forces during play. It does give some idea of what army and corps commanders had to endure during commanding large forces during the Napoleonic Era. At the same time, the game provides enough tactical detail to capture the essence of what we have all read from historical accounts of the period. While I am still learning the game, and think I will always be in a game such as this, I am finding it an absolute delight to play.

The Corps chits activation system ensures that no two campaign games would be the same, as evidenced by my own experience of running two games at the same time via PBeM with different opponents. The Tactical Cards also add in another layer of variable to make things different. Replaybility of this game is very high, despite on the surface the Corps are deployed the same initially.